Cherub

The cherub is a monster from Doom 3, newly introduced for this game. It has the appearance of a human baby with insect-like wings (which produce a characteristic insect buzzing sound when in action), black eyes with glowing yellow pupils, and arms terminating in monstrous sharp claws. It has no legs, having instead the hind quarters of a fly. It emits sounds similar to baby babble, but distorted.

Cherubs typically attack in groups, with the player fighting a series of several of them in the same area. However, cherub groups are typically smaller than trite or tick swarms, and they usually attack the player two or three at a time rather than in swarms.

Cherubs are often found near mancubi, leading some to think that cherubs could be their offspring.

Combat characteristics
The cherub is one of the weakest demons in the game, although it is more powerful than the other small "pest"-type demons such as the lost soul, the trite and the tick. Its power should not be underestimated, as it is able to use its wings to strike a blow accurately, which makes it hard to dodge. It uses its insect-like claws to blind its enemy.

Cherubs move with a combination of crawling along the ground and using their wings to quickly hover forward several feet. They attack by quickly leaping at the player from a significant distance away, and have a noticeably further attack range than trites or ticks.

Tactical analysis
While weak, the cherub can be difficult to hit thanks to its small size, and players often misjudge how far it can actually leap. It is strongly advised to keep a good distance from it and hammer it to pieces from afar with the machine gun. The plasma gun can work as well, but the chaingun is less effective against this small target due to its inaccuracy. In Resurrection of Evil and The Lost Mission, the cherub can be instantly killed by the grabber, although this does require getting closer to it than would be necessary otherwise.

It is possible to use the chainsaw, which the cherub will simply crawl or leap into of its own accord, but some damage will usually be taken in the process. This may be preferable when health levels are high but ammunition is in need of conservation. When using this strategy, it is best to crouch on the ground to guarantee contact between the blade and the enemy. Waiting around a corner with the chainsaw continually targeting the ground where the cherub will move as it pursues you around the corner is also effective.

Appearance statistics
The cherubs appear only in few levels, but always in substantial numbers. They are much more scarce in Resurrection of Evil.

Doom 3
The enemy count on Nightmare is the same as on Veteran.

* Some of the cherubs in this level are spawned by the arch-viles, thus their amount can vary. Here only number of distinct spawn points is shown.

Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
The enemy count on Nightmare is the same as on Veteran.